Passenger-vehicle.



R. T. SENTER.

PASSENGER VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1912.

1,125,192, Patented m. 19, 1915.

3 SHEBTSSHBET 1.

F4401? 6621126 NU human riwyakghrd I J i V am R. T. SENTER.

PASSENGER VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.4,1912.

1,125,192, Patented Jan.19, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2. E? a,

R. T. SENTER.

PASSENGER VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOVA, 1912.

1,125,19, Patented Jan.19,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET s.

witnesses UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH T. SENTEB, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEAR SIDE GAB COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y2, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PLASSEIIGER-VEHICLE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, RALPH T. SENTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and btate of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Passenger-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to passenger vehicles and more particularly to street cars.

.The object of the invention is to provide a double deck car which will be commodious and easy of ingress and egress.

Heretofore double deck vehicles have been provided and in smaller vehicles have been successfully operated to a certain extent. In larger yehicles, however, they .have not been so successful because of the difliculties encountered in providing proper entrance and exit passageways, particularly to the upper deck.

It is, therefore, a further object of the present invention to so construct and arrange the car that separate entrance and exit passageways will lead to and from the upper deck andthat the stair-ways will be so positioned as to occupy a minimum amount of space and to interfere to a minimum extent with the passageways to and from the lower deck andv with the seating capacity of the lower deck; and will at the same time be so arranged and positioned as to afford easy and convenient entrance to and exit from the upper deck.

A further object of the invention is to so arrange the seats on the upper deck as to utilize the space to the best possible advantage without interfering with the entrance and exit passageways; and to provide the lower deck of such a car with a depressed platform which will be so arranged that passengers can step from the street directly onto the floor of the car and may pass from this depressed platform directl to the stairway leading to the upper dec In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view taken centrally through a car embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line w a: of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is a similar view taken on the liner y of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 4, 1912. Serial No. 729,271. I

line w w of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows. I

In these drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention and have shown the same as comprising a bod portion divided into a lower deck or oor l and an upperdeck 2 and having at its forward end a depressed portion 3 constituting a platform and divided by means of a barrler or rail 4 into entrance and exit passageways 5 and 6, respectively. This platform or depressed floor portion of the car is also provided with a conductors station 7 near the entrance passageway and with a motorlnans station 8 at the forward end thereof. The entrance and exit passageways are controlled by doors 9 and 10 which may be operated by the motorman from his station by means of a controlling device 11. The car is preferably so constructed that the depressed floor portion or platform 3 may be arranged close to the track level to enable a passenger to step directly from the street onto the floor of the car. To this end I have mounted the car on front and rear trucks of different heights, the rear trucks 12 being of the usual height to enable them to carry the motor and its cooperating mechanism and the forward trucks 13 being of a much less height, thereby enabling the floor or lower deck 1 to be sloped toward the depressed portion of the car. In this manner the front end of the floor is brought close to the depre sed platform so that 'there is only a very slfiort step or riser between them. Arranged on either side of the car and on opposite sides of thecentral passageway leading to the body of the lower deck are stairways 14 and 15, respectively, leading from a point adjacent the entrance passageway 5 to the upper deck and from the upper deck to .a point adjacent the exit passageway 6, thus providing practically continuous passageways from the doorways at the side of the car to and from the upper deck as well as to and from the lower deck. The seating arrangement of the body portion of the upper deck maybe .of any suitable character. In the present instance I have provided two longitudinal benches 16 extending along the center of the car and facing the sides thereof. These seats terminate near the landing for the stairways 14: and 15 so as to provide a transverse passageway from side to side of the car. A seea mamas 0nd double row of seats 17 extends along the center of the car betweenthe two stairways and inasmuch as the barriers 18 ex tending about the stairways come close to the seats 17I prefer that these seats should be of the folding type so that when the passenger rises the seat may be automatically or otherwise folded upward to enlarge the passageways along the sides of the barriers 18', thus facilitating the passage of the passengers to and from the seats at the forward end of the upper deck of the car. I

It will be noted that the car as constructed provides at one end thereof separate entrance and exit passageways both to the lower and to the upper decks and that the stairways leading to the upper deck are so arranged as not to interfere with the passage of passengers to and from the lower deck and as to occupy a very small amount of the space of the lower deck. Further, it will be noted that the seating arrangement of the upper deck is such as to utilizethe space to the fullest extent and to render all the seats readily accessible; and further that the low down arrangement of the platform whereby the step is eliminated renders the car veryaccessible both to the lower and to the upper deck, the stairways leading to and from the upper deck terminating close to this depressed platform.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention it will be understood that this has been chosen for the purposes of illustration only and that I do not desire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. Further, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to street cars but the term car as herein used is applicable to passenger vehicles of various kinds.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck and provided at one end of said car and on one side of the longitudinal center thereof with both an entrance passageway and an exit passageway, separate stairways connecting said upper deck with the inner ends of the entrance passageway and the exit passageway, respectively.

2. In a car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck, a platform at one end of said car having on one side of the longitudinal center thereof both an entrance passageway and an exit passageway, a barrier to separate said passageways, and separate stairways extending from points near the inner ends of said passageways and connecting the upper deck with said entrance passageway and said exit passageway, respectively.

3. In a car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck, normally closed at its rear end and having separate entrance and exit passageways at its front end, and separate stairways connecting said upper deck with the inner ends of said entrance and exit passageways, respectively.

4. In a car comprising a body having an upper deck and a lower deck, a platform arranged at one end of said car and having on one side of the longitudinal center of said car both an entrance and an exit, separate passageways leading from said entrance and said exit to the body of said car, and stairways arranged within the body of the car on opposite sides of the longitudinal center of said car and connecting said gaslsiageways, respectively, with said upper 5. In a car comprising a body portion having an upper deck and a lower deck, a platform arranged at one end of said car and having separate entrance and exit passageways, and separate stairways arranged within the body of the car along the opposite sides of the longitudinal center of said car, extending substantially parallel therewith and connecting the respective passageways with said upper deck.

6. In a car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck, said lower deck having a depressed portion forming a platform arranged close to the track level, said platform providing both an entrance and an exit to and from said car, and a stairway lieacllgng from said platform to said upper 7. In a car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck, said lower deck having a depressed portion forming" a platform arranged close to the track level, said platform having separate entrance and exit passageways, and separate stairways leading from the respective passageways to said upper deck.

8. In a car comprisingan upper deck and a lower deck, separate entrance and exit stairways leading to and from said upper deck on opposite sides thereof, seats extending from said stairways toward one end of the car and other seats arranged between said stairways and extending toward the other end of said car, and barriers to separate said stairways from said last-mentioned seats.

9. In a car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck. separate entrance and exit stairways leading to and from said upper deck on opposite sides thereof, seats extending. from said stairways toward one end of the car, and folding seats arranged between said stairways and extending toward the other end of said car, and barriers to separate said stairways from said last-mentioned seats.

10. A car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck, said lower deck being normally closed at its rear end and being provided with both an entrance and an exit at its front end, lengthwise extending seats arranged near the front end of said car along the sides thereof, stairways arranged near the opposite sides of said car extending from the frontend thereof above the adjacent ends of said lengthwise seats to said upper deck, a passageway leading between said stairways to the body of said car, and seats mounted on the upper deck between said stairways and extending-from the heads of said stairways toward the front of said car.

11. A car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck, said lower deck having a depressed platform at its front end arranged close to the track level and the floor of said lower deck sloping from the rear toward said depressed platform, said upper deck being arranged substantially horizontal, stair-ways leading from said platform on the opposite sides of said car to the respective sides of said upper deck, said platform having separate entrance and exit passageways communicating with the respective stairways.

12. In a car comprising an upper deck and a lower deck, said lower deck having a bodyportion and a platform at one end of the body portion, said platform having entrance and exit passages, Stairways arranged Within said body portion and extending from points near the opposite-sides of said platform to said upper deck.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' RALPH T. SENTER Witnesses:

JESSIE M. IRWIN. JOHN S. WVURTs. 

